Rihanna and Nicki Minaj lead the pack of nominees with four nods each for the 40th annual American Music Awards, which will be handed out Nov. 18 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

At the AMA announcement, it was also revealed that Xtina would perform at the awards ceremony, which coincides with the release of her new CD, "Lotus."

The new album will be released Nov. 13.

"It's very exciting," she told MTV News about her AMA performance. "It's definitely going to be a reflection of what 'Lotus' means to me. If you take that album cover and give it a little performance twist, I'll bring that album cover to life, so it's going to be really fun.

"I can't give too much away about the songs, but it's definitely going to represent the album because the album is very multi-layered," she added.

The American Music Awards show will feature a major showdown for the Artist of the Year prize, pitting Rihanna against Justin Bieber, Drake, Maroon 5 and Katy Perry.